Harvey Stanbrough

The Journal, Sunday, April 15

Hey Folks, Well, happy Shearing Day. No fiction writing yesterday or today, as expected. Yesterday I edited for a few hours in the early morning, then a little more later on. I was going to publish an edition of this Journal yesterday, but I had nothing even for the “Of Interest” section so I didn’t. This morning too I edited for a few hours. I should finish the edit over the next two days. *** Back when I presented sessions at writers conferences and conventions and in private seminars, every now and then I’d hear some version of “Well, the … Read more

The Journal, Friday, April 13

Hey Folks, Sometimes it feels specifically like I make plans so I’ll have something to change later. Remember how I said a few days ago I was going to write in the early morning and then edit later in the day? Yeah. I worked on my WIP for a few minutes this morning, just enough to put my hand in. Then I thought about the copyedit waiting on my business computer. My gut tied in a knot. The client was even good enough to prepay the balance for the edit. Then, thankfully, I read Kris Rusch’s current Business Musings article … Read more

The Journal, Thursday, April 12

Hey Folks, Wow. I woke up right at 2:30, which has become my recent norm. But for various reasons I went back to sleep and didn’t wake up again until 4. Problem is, that throws off the whole day. The ladies asked me to stay close so they could go out in the pre-dawn yard. So I didn’t get to the Hovel, which means I didn’t get to the novel. One drawback to having a dedicated writing space and a dedicated writing computer is that when I don’t get there, I don’t write. Then I spent a couple of hours, … Read more

The Journal, Wednesday, April 11

Hey Folks, Sorry I took off yesterday from posting the Journal. The first day of a copyedit is always the most difficult with the most concentrated effort. As a result, I totally spaced posting an edition of the Journal. So to today… Well, I’m writing again. The current copyedit is a long one. It will probably take me the better part of two weeks, and I didn’t want to go that long without writing. In fact, on my recent two and a half-day camping trip, I was already jonesing to write on the morning of the second day. So this … Read more

The Journal, Monday, April 9

Hey Folks, I hope to get started on my next novel soon. Probably another noir mystery. We’ll see what appeals to me. Probably no writing today. An edit came in, though it’s a re-read so it won’t take more than two or three days. I don’t like doing re-reads, but if the writer insists, I’ll do it for half the price of the original edit. I don’t personally recommend revising an edited manuscript, but when I’m wearing my copyeditor hat, the customer is always right. In the meantime, my recent camping experience proved I can walk (rugged terrain) three miles … Read more

The Journal, Sunday, April 8

Hey Folks, Hmm. Somehow, I was thinking Friday’s post was Saturday’s post and hadn’t gone out yet. So I amended Friday’s post. Mark it up to a very good case of exhaustion. Anyway, we didn’t get back until yesterday (Saturday) morning and then I didn’t post a Journal. Not a lot going on today. Weird. The morning of the second day of the camping trip, I was jonesing for writing. From now on when I go, I’ll take my laptop along. Just in case. But now I’m back, and this morning I didn’t feel like writing. Since it’s Sunday, I … Read more

The Journal, Wednesday, April 4

Hey Folks, All right. Well, I finished the novella this morning. I’ll go over it one more time (reading aloud to myself) before I publish it, but the final word count will be very near what’s posted below. *** A few days ago, a subscriber asked in a comment about my after-writing process. Do I send my work to my first reader before I read it aloud? Do I print it before I read it aloud or read directly from the screen? Just as importantly, the commenter wrote “I’m working on getting better writing a clean [first] draft….” I was … Read more

The Journal, Tuesday, April 3

Hey Folks, Well, the current WIP is going to be a novellette or a novella. I don’t usually write to a particular length, but I know this one won’t get into the short-novel range. Something occurred to me after I wrote yesterday’s post. Write This Down: The only real difference between a short story and a story of any other length is that a short story is about One Event. Not two, not a few and not several. One. This story is about two cases, a new one and a cold case that all but mimics the new one, and … Read more

The Journal, Monday, April 2

Hey Folks, I might as well let you in on a secret. In writing my current WIP, I’m doing something I’ve never done before. And actually, I’m doing something I don’t enjoy. At all. At less than 6,000 words in (as of yesterday) I already know most of the plot points and the satisfactory resolution of the novel. Ugh. How in the world does anyone write from an outline? Seriously, I don’t understand. If they already know the story beforehand, how are they not bored out of their mind as they put it on paper? It seems to me that … Read more

The Journal, Saturday, March 31

Hey Folks, I jumped ahead a bit and published my latest last night, distributing it via Draft2Digital. Then I sent the Kindle file to my donors and to a few relatives who’ve shown an interest. This morning I sent it to Amazon and BundleRabbit. Finally, I created a new page for the book at HarveyStanbrough.com and then updated the Mystery Novels page on the same site. Then I did the same thing over at StoneThreadPublishing.com. So a lot of admin stuff this morning thus far. I expect to get back to the new WIP sometime today. But it’s the weekend, … Read more